Oh Comcast is this why you constantly need raise your rates

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: EKKC
regional oligopoly FTL

how this can exist in a "capitalistic economy" is beyond me

Who's their competition?

Depends on your service area. Here their competition for broadband is Verizon DSL and FIOS, Covad DSL, and maybe even a couple other small CLECs. On the TV side there is Verizon FIOS, DirecTV, and DISH.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Xavier434
I pay for the bandwidth so I should be able to use it how I wish provided that what I am doing is legal.

Not according to the Corporate supporters in here.

Originally posted by: Dean

Originally posted by: Xavier434
This is dumb...I understand why they are doing it, but the right way to fix this problem is for them to be capable of providing enough bandwidth so that all of their users are capable of getting the speeds they pay for during peak hours. I pay for the bandwidth so I should be able to use it how I wish provided that what I am doing is legal. Even if others are downloading illegally and that is "clogging the tubes" it doesn't matter. They are not law enforcement. They are opening a door in the business world that shouldn't be opened.

That is not true. You are only paying for shared line with "up to" speeds. If you were actually paying for the guaranteed bandwidth, you'd be paying $500-$2000 a month if you are a heavy user.

When monthly caps were were used, people bitched. I think it was actually a good idea though as it would keep heavy users under control. I think a 30 Gig Cap per month for download and 15 gig per month upload would solve the issue, but to extreme users, that is a terrible idea.

They are instead attacking the P2P users which are probably responsible for 75% of bandwidth yet represent about 10% of their customers.

What bugs me about the internet companies though, is they somewhat false advertise what they offer. They make many people think they have unlimited access while offering higher and higher potential download speeds. Their money is falling under the crux of competitive marketing and little goes into improving infrastructure.

See, big corporate supporter in right on que.

See, lazy no nothing bum trying to make everyone think everything should be free (For the poor mind you).

Do you have even the slightest idea how much a network costs to build and maintain?

And for what its worth, hes right. You *are* paying for "up to" speeds. No mater where you live there are other options. Have your local telco drop a T1 on your prem if you want gauranteed bandwidth unlimited downloading.

I'm not saying what Comcast id oing is right, but neither is it wrong.

 

[Reckoner]

Those sons of bitches

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Specop 007
Do you have even the slightest idea how much a network costs to build and maintain?

And for what its worth, hes right. You *are* paying for "up to" speeds. No mater where you live there are other options. Have your local telco drop a T1 on your prem if you want gauranteed bandwidth unlimited downloading.

I'm not saying what Comcast id oing is right, but neither is it wrong.

You don't think it's wrong for Comcast to advertise "unlimited bandwidth" and then cut people off for downloading too much?

I'd consider that wrong. They say there is NO cap, but they send out letter cutting people off for using too much?

It's like a cop pulling you over going 70 in a 70 and giving you a ticket for going too fast. What kind of sense does that make? If it's unlimited...it's freaking UNLIMITED. There's nothing else to talk about.

 

[Darwin333]

As much as I hate the customer/Tech support at Cox, I LOVE their broadband service. I have their top tier service which advertises 12mb down/1mb up. I regularly see speeds over 16mb/s and only rarely see speeds under 10mb/s and I have never had a problem with torrents.

 

[jw0ollard]

Originally posted by: Darwin333
As much as I hate the customer/Tech support at Cox, I LOVE their broadband service. I have their top tier service which advertises 12mb down/1mb up. I regularly see speeds over 16mb/s and only rarely see speeds under 10mb/s and I have never had a problem with torrents.

When my mother moved away, Cox was the ISP in her new location. She was really fed up with them, although I'm not sure why. She was complaining about how slow it was (not sure what tier she got), and they came out and checked all the cabling on multiple occasions, and eventually ended up replacing the existing coax with all new. I guess that's what they narrowed the problem down to. Anyway, if I were in her situation, I wouldn't be fed up with anything. From what she told me, it seemed like they gave great support, and I'm assuming she didn't pay anything for the all-new coax (or I would have heard about it), so I'm not sure why she was so angry with Cox, other than the fact that she's always an angry bitch.

So, out of my experience with RoadRunner, Cox, and Comcast, I'd say I'd definitely have to choose Cox.

Of course, I dream about the day this area gets Verizon FiOS.... but that's another story.

 

[Xavier434]

This is a link to ISPs along with a chart showing what they are blocking and what they are not blocking:

Bad ISP List


This is a solution to the problem:

Encryption



I hope this helps.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Dean

That is not true. You are only paying for shared line with "up to" speeds. If you were actually paying for the guaranteed bandwidth, you'd be paying $500-$2000 a month if you are a heavy user.

When monthly caps were were used, people bitched. I think it was actually a good idea though as it would keep heavy users under control. I think a 30 Gig Cap per month for download and 15 gig per month upload would solve the issue, but to extreme users, that is a terrible idea.

They are instead attacking the P2P users which are probably responsible for 75% of bandwidth yet represent about 10% of their customers.

What bugs me about the internet companies though, is they somewhat false advertise what they offer. They make many people think they have unlimited access while offering higher and higher potential download speeds. Their money is falling under the crux of competitive marketing and little goes into improving infrastructure.

The only thing that confuses me about those numbers is that I can buy 6.0 DSL from Bellsouth for $10 less than the 8.0 I get from Comcast. No shared line obviously. I thought I read that Comcast reported 90% of the bandwidth that is used by their customers goes towards P2P transfers. If that number is even close to being true then Bellsouth is probably the same. In addition, if the $500-$2000 a month is true then I have no clue how Bellsouth could stay in business giving out 6.0 dedicated lines for $42.95/mo. There is something missing here...

 

[BigJ]

<3 my new FIOS.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: BigJ
<3 my new FIOS.

*drools*

 

[SoulAssassin]

Turn on encryption in your client, did that and everything is back to normal.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: Dean

That is not true. You are only paying for shared line with "up to" speeds. If you were actually paying for the guaranteed bandwidth, you'd be paying $500-$2000 a month if you are a heavy user.

When monthly caps were were used, people bitched. I think it was actually a good idea though as it would keep heavy users under control. I think a 30 Gig Cap per month for download and 15 gig per month upload would solve the issue, but to extreme users, that is a terrible idea.

They are instead attacking the P2P users which are probably responsible for 75% of bandwidth yet represent about 10% of their customers.

What bugs me about the internet companies though, is they somewhat false advertise what they offer. They make many people think they have unlimited access while offering higher and higher potential download speeds. Their money is falling under the crux of competitive marketing and little goes into improving infrastructure.

The only thing that confuses me about those numbers is that I can buy 6.0 DSL from Bellsouth for $10 less than the 8.0 I get from Comcast. No shared line obviously. I thought I read that Comcast reported 90% of the bandwidth that is used by their customers goes towards P2P transfers. If that number is even close to being true then Bellsouth is probably the same. In addition, if the $500-$2000 a month is true then I have no clue how Bellsouth could stay in business giving out 6.0 dedicated lines for $42.95/mo. There is something missing here...

Because a true dedicated connection lets you use the entire pipe, both ways, 24x7x365 days per year. By contract, guaranteed. That's what you get. And it costs a lot to get that.

Residential broadband is so incredibly cheap because of massive over subscription and a large majority of homes don't offer a large burden. But P2P sucks capacity dry and it isn't fair to the majority of the customers to have their service suffer because of people downloading illegal crap.

Comcast's solution is actually pretty ingenious and I can see other providers implementing it to stop the abuse.

-edit-
And soon with the use of transparent proxies they'll be able to stop the encrypted stuff as well.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: BigJ
<3 my new FIOS.

*drools*

Get this. They're offering 20/20 for $15/month more than I'm currently paying. 20/5 is $45 a month, so it'd be $60/month for 20/20.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Because a true dedicated connection lets you use the entire pipe, both ways, 24x7x365 days per year. By contract, guaranteed. That's what you get. And it costs a lot to get that.

Residential broadband is so incredibly cheap because of massive over subscription and a large majority of homes don't offer a large burden. But P2P sucks capacity dry and it isn't fair to the majority of the customers to have their service suffer because of people downloading illegal crap.

Comcast's solution is actually pretty ingenious and I can see other providers implementing it to stop the abuse.

-edit-
And soon with the use of transparent proxies they'll be able to stop the encrypted stuff as well.

I admit to not being an expert on this stuff so bare with me here. I am still confused. I have had DSL before and I was always able to max out at the 6.0 connection speed that they provided me with 24/7 365 days a year. I was located in a heavily populated area too. So again, why is DSL so cheap when I am able to max it out whenever I want? Is my experience not the case everywhere?

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: BigJ
<3 my new FIOS.

*drools*

Get this. They're offering 20/20 for $15/month more than I'm currently paying. 20/5 is $45 a month, so it'd be $60/month for 20/20.

I really wish that I could but I don't have it in my area yet. Hopefully it will be offered before this transparent proxy stuff comes into play.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: spidey07

Because a true dedicated connection lets you use the entire pipe, both ways, 24x7x365 days per year. By contract, guaranteed. That's what you get. And it costs a lot to get that.

Residential broadband is so incredibly cheap because of massive over subscription and a large majority of homes don't offer a large burden. But P2P sucks capacity dry and it isn't fair to the majority of the customers to have their service suffer because of people downloading illegal crap.

Comcast's solution is actually pretty ingenious and I can see other providers implementing it to stop the abuse.

-edit-
And soon with the use of transparent proxies they'll be able to stop the encrypted stuff as well.

I admit to not being an expert on this stuff so bare with me here. I am still confused. I have had DSL before and I was always able to max out at the 6.0 connection speed that they provided me with 24/7 365 days a year. I was located in a heavily populated area too. So again, why is DSL so cheap when I am able to max it out whenever I want? Is my experience not the case everywhere?

I have 6.0/768
realistically ~5.1 and 768
no caps
AT&T DSL (ex-SBC)

 

[potato28]

I'm still waiting for Bell to get their act together and get Fiber Optics out on the commercial market. And for the record, Rogers bites the big one. Limited bandwidths and no bittorent access.